Dillard's Doodles: Chicken in Charge

Dillard's Doodles: Chicken in Charge: "A t-shirt design made for some folks that work at 2nd & Charles; based on a shared joke."

So I'm startin' an art blog....

Finally puttin together my own art blog where I will post my cartoons, sketches and scribblings. ..
I dunno... take a look, throw me some suggestions. Just puttin it out there
Dillard's Doodles

news

Came across this article recently:

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Comics Get Even More Mature

(AP) Jill Tyson
The comics industry has long tried to shake free of the kiddie-lit stigma, but a new Marvel Comics graphic novel promises to take that trend even further. Hulk's Way, featuring the popular green-skinned Goliath (made famous in a 1970's TV series and on the big screen in a pair of recent movie adaptations) will be an homage to Swann's Way by Marcel Proust, a volume from his classic novel In Search of Lost Time.

In the novel, "Swann's Way" refers to the character Swann's ability to navigate the treacherous waters between art and commerce. The graphic novel (a sort of long-form comic book considered more prestigious by fans) will detail the Hulk's delicate balancing act between enjoying his desert cave and warding off the attacks of a general at a nearby military base, said Marvel Comics Assistant Editor Cullen Matthews.

"The whole structure will be based on the [Proust] book," said Matthews. "There will be many details readers of Proust will recognize." For instance, Matthews said, the famous scene where Proust's narrator bites into a French pastry called a madeleine and recalls his childhood, will be mirrored by a scene where the Hulk's alter ego, Bruce Banner, bites into a Moon Pie while visiting the general's daughter and recalls the episode that gave him incredible powers.

But, unlike in the novel, Banner becomes enraged by the memory and cannot stop himself from changing into the Hulk, wrecking his girlfriend's kitchen and alarming her cat.
---

or maybe not..

Salty 'Ham Slam 10 - On Reflection

Our tenth official powwow was a hoot. We were at the J again, and we had a nice little crowd:
Richard Haigler, Kirk Creel, Ben Faucher, Derek Anderson, Ed Abernathy, Tim Rocks, Perry Sessions, and Nolen Otts were there. And we welcomed first-timer Tom Briscoe. And there was me, Chris Garrison. Pretty good group!

I took advantage of the friendly atmosphere by getting in some caricature practice. I've never really been a live caricature artist. Oh, I've occasionally drawn folks from photos, taking a lot of time to study over them and try different approaches. But I've rarely ever sat in front of a person to caricature them on the spot. I think my results were okay, and I definitely enjoyed it. I'm considering doing more to hone the skill. Anyway, here are my attempts, accompanied by photos from the meeting:

Derek Anderson


Tom Briscoe


Kirk Creel


Ben Faucher


Richard Haigler


Nolen Otts


Tim Rocks (I forgot to get a picture at the Slam, so here's an old one)


Perry Sessions

Crotchety old Ed Abernathy, the seasoned caricaturist, wouldn't let me draw him! Sheesh. What a grouch. However, he entertained us all (as usual) with his brilliant ideas on how to bilk tons of cash from the general public. So I forgive him.

Ben Faucher drew me as I struggled to get it right:


I'll offer this for comparison:


And Nolen Otts offered this lovely, even angelic rendition. This is what my wife thinks I look like:


As long as I'm showcasing drawings of myself, for anyone who hasn't seen it, let me again present my favorite caricature, given to me by our fellow SHC Garth Potts, a while back:


As usual, we snacked on Oreos, Nutter Butters, and Chips, Ahoy! cookies. Unfortunately, Kirk tried to swallow the chuck key from a Makita rechargeable drill, turned purple in the face, and had to be given the Heimlich. Good job, Ben! You're totally on the ball! For those of you who missed it, you really should have been there!

Also, we discussed ideas about organizing a competitive cartooning event. More on that as it develops. (or less on it, as it doesn't)

With all the delving into caricature world, I failed to start a comic jam this time. Luckily, Derek Anderson took the initiative, and drew the first panel of this one:



Lost in Translation credits:
Page 1 -- panel 1 by Derek Anderson; panel 2 by Richard Haigler; panel 3 by Kirk Creel; panel 4 by Chris Garrison; panels 5 & 6 by Perry Sessions.
Page 2 -- panels 1 & 2 (inset) by Chris Garrison, with lots of story help from Tim Rocks.

All tolled, everybody had fun at the slam, and there were plenty of smug smiles. So join us, won't you, for the NEXT Salty 'Ham Slam! (as yet unscheduled) (official members and invited guests only, please)

Oh, and you can look back at previous slams, here:

Slam 1
Slam 2
Slam 3
Slam 4
Slam 5
Slam 6
Slam 7
Slam 8
Slam 9

Salty 'Ham Slam - Reminder

Hey, SHC members, don't forget -- Our 10th Salty 'Ham Slam is coming up soon. If you didn't receive your email alerting you to the secret time and place, just tell me. And click HERE for more details.

I'm hoping we'll have a good group this time around, but that can only happen if YOU arrive with bells on. Comment below (or email me) to let us all know if you're coming. Perhaps your enthusiasm will be contagious, encouraging others to show up as well.

Read about the fun we had at SLAM 1, SLAM 2, SLAM 3, SLAM 4, SLAM 5, SLAM 6, SLAM 7, SLAM 8, and SLAM 9 -- then imagine that, only better!

Cracked looks back

Mort Todd posted this news on the TCJ forums:

On a related note, just got the galleys for the two-volume history of Cracked book by Mark Arnold, "If You're Cracked, You're Happy," and it is better than it has any right to be. Along with a foreword by Steve Ditko, it also has tons of great recollections by the unusual gang of non-idiots, from the Atlas-refugees that started it in 1958 after the Atlas Comics implosion, to the young Turks who ain't so young any more.

Probably not something I could afford to buy, but I'd certainly be thrilled to see it on the racks and flip through it with my grubby fingers.

All That Raz

First, a bit of background: As you may recall, I drew a couple of guest strips for the web comic 1930 Nightmare Theatre, which runs on DummComics.com. (you can revisit those strips HERE and HERE).

Rad Raz, by Jack Cusumano, is another cool feature on Dumm Comics. It runs every Saturday. It's a fun comic, with a very 80's aesthetic. Raz is a little green whatsit, who's completely despicable in both his personal life and his life as a corporate tyrant. If you haven't been following it, and you want to sorta catch up on the evolution of the strip, start by reading the pre-Dumm incarnation HERE. The comic got something of an overhaul when it started on Dumm Comics, HERE. (use the arrows underneath, to navigate forward).

Now here's my news: Jack Cusumano invited me to do a guest strip for Rad Raz! So I did, and it was posted on the site today. Check it out HERE. Again, I tried to honor the spirit of Rad Raz, while at the same time putting my own spin on it.

Gnatrat Lives !!!

Holy cow, this is totally exciting news!

Our fellow SHC Mark Martin is giving thought to bringing back his cult classic character Gnatrat. He's set up a KickStarter project. If he gets $1200 in pledges, he's doing it, and he's practically already there! Go HERE to read all about it and make a pledge, like me.

Here's a wacky video about it:

FILM HAUS

Hello good people,
Every Thursday for the next 4 weeks we will be presenting films at the German Club in downtown Birmingham. These are all casual, free events with short films screening before the features and a full bar for your consumption. We will begin the films around 8:30 or so. Feel free to join us!

This week (2/10) we present the amazing Czech puppet film entitled "Kooky." It is a film unlike any other; as if Jim Henson decided to do the Velveteen Rabbit.

Upcoming screenings include Terrence Malick's Badlands, Jim Jarmusch's Mystery Train and Takashi Miike's The Happiness of the Katakuris.

• FSDK German Club • 2318 2nd Ave N • 205-324-5949 •

Sgt. Jack's Pals

Remember The Sargent Jack Show? Did you know our fellow SHC Howard Cruse was a puppeteer on that program? He even drew a comic about the characters he created there! Read all about it HERE.

Tim Hollis on the radio again

You may recall that our fellow SHC Tim Hollis was interviewed on WBHM's Tapestry a while back. Well now the public radio folks have brought him back, as a guest on a show about . . . stuff! And hey, who better to talk about managing your things than a guy who attached a two-story museum of memorabilia to the back of his house? Listen HERE.

RGB blues

Working on some biz cards for my dad's shop. Trying to use the Pantone colors he specified, but my primitive Photoshop doesn't have Pantone charts included, so.. go online to find RGB conversion numbers. But then.. the printer prefers CMYK files of course, so my RGB file will potentially have some drastic color shift.

Plus I had to recreate the logo from a composite scan where the hash marks ended up not aligning..

I also have to revamp the website, since it's been sitting around in a token, scary sort of way for eons. But he's providing me the materials for renovation, should just be some simple HTML plastic surgery.

looking for portfolio hosting sites?

I set up an online portfolio recently at something called mosaicglobe.com. So far it seems pretty good, their free option has ads but they're fairly unobtrusive.

I was just getting sick of trying to figure out how to set up a gallery myself, using Javascript, so I decided to use their generic but decent template.

Right now it's just got a brief intro and some "yo mama" jokes I once illustrated. I recently colored them for purposes of this gallery: http://timrocks.mosaicglobe.com

Here's one:


Actually not sure how to caption this one.. Best I could do is "Yo mama so short-- she gets air just paying her bus fare!" But that sounds really awkward to me.

I would sort of like to sell them as greeting/insult cards if I could figure out how. Maybe some sort of print-on-demand thing. Or maybe I could print up a small number and take them to your weirder stores and see if they'd carry them.

Or go door to door...

Econo-funnies

Salty 'Ham Slam 10

The tenth edition of the Salty 'Ham Slam has been scheduled! The exact date, time, and location are a secret, reserved for our official members and close associates only. If you haven't yet received the details by email, contact me and I will send them forthwith: cgarrison[at]bham.rr.com

More info HERE.

The Phantom - for rilz!

Hey! This guy has been dressing up as The Phantom, right down to the skull ring! He's also been dressing up other folks as other characters from the Phantom comics, and taking lots of pictures. And this is evidently going on somewhere in the greater Birmingham area.


It seems like maybe he's making entire stories out the photos. They even have a white horse. I don't know if he's going to add word balloons and do a whole fumetti thing, but that would be awesome.

Check out his website HERE.


Maybe Salty 'Ham Cartooneestas should have a sister site for real live costumed heros and such. Somebody start work on that right away.

[Update: I guess we don't have to bother with that, because, as it turns out, THIS exists.]

Inking in Manga Studio

You already know about my adventures in digital inking, if you've read these posts on my sketch blog: Inking in Flash, Inking in Illustrator (calligraphic brush), and Inking in Illustrator (art brushes).

Now I've been trying out Manga Studio. I have to say, I think it's pretty awesome! Here are some examples, with different settings on the brushes. With some more dabbling, I think I could figure out several more nice looking methods, too.


I definitely found it faster, easier, more fun, and more accurate to my intentions than inking in Flash or Illustrator.

I've been using the non-vector style, but it can also do vector inking, and I suspect it would be good for that, too. (But note: You only get the vector option if you pay for the expensive version of Manga Studio.)

I feel bad for not posting anything...

So, here's some Hero Happy Hour throwaway stuff; it's also my first attempt at completely 100% digital comic creation w/ the Cintiq (12", not the awesome 21" that Mr. Garrison has).

My Nightmare -- Again?!

Remember how I drew a guest strip for the web comic 1930 Nightmare Theatre? If not, go back and read all about it in this recent post, HERE.

And now look: I've done another guest strip for 1930 Nightmare Theatre, and it was posted this morning! Check it out HERE.

The Electric Heartbreaker on DVD

This isn't cartoon-related, but I'll post it here anyway. Years ago, I co-created a live-action short film called The Electric Heartbreaker. Recently, we finally made it available on DVD, with fun extras and everything. If anybody's curious, here are a couple of clips:

official site

facebook

buy it on amazon ($9.99)

Nolen Noel

A slightly belated, but lovely nonetheless, card from our fellow SHC Nolen Otts:

Happy December

From our fellow SHC Howard Cruse:

Happy December
packed as it is
with holidays worth celebrating
and childhood memories
that hopefully make you smile.

If you click the link below, you'll find the cartoon I've drawn
as my contribution to this year's festivities,
as well a bonus link to a video
that the cartooning fans among you may enjoy.

http://www.howardcruse.com/cruseblog/xmas10.html

My Nightmare

First, a bit of background: For anyone who doesn't know, DummComics.com is a great site for web comics, featuring new strips everyday, by a brilliant stable of artists. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, they have one called 1930 Nightmare Theatre, by Ricky Garduno. It's an awesome comic.

It's been running for a long while now. If you haven't been following it, and you want to sorta catch up on the evolution of the strip, start by reading the first few installments, starting HERE (then use the arrows underneath, to navigate forward). Read a few pieces from the middle of the run, starting HERE. And read some of Ricky's most recent editions, starting HERE.

Now here's my news: Ricky Garduno invited me to do a guest strip for 1930 Nightmare Theatre! So I did, and it was posted on the site today. Check it out HERE. Like most of the guest artists, I tried to honor the spirit of 1930 Nightmare Theatre, while at the same time putting my own spin on it.

Inking in Illustrator

I'm still practicing my digital inking. I tried inking in Flash, then I tried inking in Illustrator with a Calligraphic Brush. Here are my latest experiments -- still inking in Illustrator, but this time using a set of Art Brushes that I made myself.



I get more accuracy this way. I mean, I can really get the ink line to sit RIGHT ON the pencil line, if I want. But I think it has a little less life than the previous two methods I tried. It lacks a certain spontaneity and humanity. Next I'll try inking in Manga Studio.

Burns, Baby, Burns

You may remember Area 47 Entertainment as the guys who made that Dag Nab Ants video I posted here recently. Jeremy Burns animates videos for the songs created by his brother Chris Burns and him. And now, they have their own SHC page, HERE. Take a look!